United States Patent and Trademark Office OG Notices: 29 March 2005

                         Termination of the Waiver of
                    Provisions of 37 CFR 1.8 and 1.10 for
                       Correspondence Intended for the
                United States Patent and Trademark Office but
                      Addressed to Washington, DC 20231

   Effective on April 4, 2005, the provisions of 37 CFR 1.8
(Certificate of Mailing) and 1.10 ("Express Mail") will no
longer be waived for correspondence addressed to the United States
Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Washington, DC 20231. On May 1,
2003, the USPTO changed its address for certain correspondence to P.O.
Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450. See 37 CFR 1.1 and
Correspondence with the United States Patent and Trademark
Office, 68 Fed. Reg. 14332 (March 25, 2003), 1269 Off. Gaz.
Pat. Office 159 (Apr. 22, 2003). To allow applicants time to
become accustomed to the new address in Alexandria, VA, the USPTO
waived the provisions of 37 CFR 1.8 and 1.10 such that correspondence
addressed to Washington, DC 20231 would be treated as acceptable under
37 CFR 1.8 and 1.10 for otherwise compliant Certificates of Mailing and
"Express Mail". 

   The United States Postal Service (USPS) has ceased forwarding
to the USPTO correspondence addressed to Washington, DC 20231.
Additionally, the USPTO will no longer arrange for the delivery to
Alexandria, VA of correspondence addressed to Washington, DC 20231
after April 3, 2005. Thus, after April 3, 2005, all correspondence
addressed to the Washington, DC 20231 address will be returned to
sender marked by the USPS as undeliverable. Such mail returned to the
sender by the USPS will not be considered proof of prior
filing or mailing under 37 CFR 1.8(b) or 1.10(e) since the
correspondence was not mailed in accordance with 37 CFR 1.1.

   Pursuant to 37 CFR 1.1, correspondence intended for the USPTO
must be mailed to P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450, except as
otherwise provided. 

   1. Correspondence intended for the USPTO, unless directed
otherwise, must be addressed to: 

        Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
        P.O. Box 1450
        Alexandria, VA 22313-1450

   2. Correspondence in patent-related matters to organizations
reporting to the Commissioner for Patents must be addressed to: 

        Commissioner for Patents
        P.O. Box 1450
        Alexandria, VA 22313-1450

   3. Correspondence in trademark-related matters, except
documents sent to the Assignment Services Division for recordation,
requests for copies of trademark documents, and documents directed to
the Madrid Processing Unit, must be addressed to: 

        Commissioner for Trademarks
        P.O. Box 1451
        Alexandria, VA 22313-1451

   The above addresses are the USPTO's three general mailing
addresses for mail delivered by the USPS; however, the USPTO has
separate mailing addresses for certain correspondence as set forth in
the notice titled "Mailing and Hand Carry Addresses for Mail to the
United States Patent and Trademark Office" (formerly, "Special Mail
Stops For Patent Mail") that is published each week in the Official
Gazette Notices and posted on the USPTO Internet web site. 

   Questions regarding this notice may be e-mailed to
PatentPractice@uspto.gov, or directed to the Inventors' Assistance
Center (formerly the Patent Assistance Center (PAC)) by telephone at
800-786-9199 or 703-308-4357. 

March 1, 2005                                               JOSEPH J. ROLLA
                                                    Deputy Commissioner for
                                                  Patent Examination Policy